Applesaid it has asked Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer to veto a bill that allows the state’s businesses to refuse service to gay customers on religious grounds.

The bill, which passed the Arizona legislature last week, has been criticized for providing a legal justification to discriminate against gays. Brewer has five working days to sign or veto the bill.

Other companies have come out in opposition of the bill. Executives from Marriott International and American Airlines said the law could open up Arizona to travel boycotts and hurt the state’s economy. An Apple spokeswoman said the company had urged the governor to reject the bill, but declined to comment further.

Apple’s request comes months after the company announced plans to build a new component-manufacturing plant in the state after years of outsourcing most of its production to Asia. The Apple-owned facility in Mesa will produce sapphire material, seen as a potential replacement for glass in future displays of mobile devices.

When announcing the new facility, Apple touted how its decision to locate the plant in Arizona will create more than 2,000 jobs in engineering, manufacturing and construction. GT Advanced Technologies, which will operate Apple’s facility, said it expects its sapphire business to ramp as the year progresses. It expects revenue to be “back-ended” in 2014, suggesting Apple may not be using the sapphire material in its products until the second half of the year.

In the editorial, Cook argued that creating a safe and welcoming workplace is good for business because it fosters creativity and provides employees with the comfort and confidence to do great work. “So long as the law remains silent on the workplace rights of gay and lesbian Americans, we as a nation are effectively consenting to discrimination against them,” Cook wrote.